Friedrichstadt (; ; ; ; ) is a town in the district of

Nordfriesland Nordfriesland (; ; Low German: Noordfreesland), also known as North Frisia, is the northernmost Districts of Germany, district of Germany, part of the state of Schleswig-Holstein. It includes almost all of traditional North Frisia (with the e ...

, in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is situated on the river

Eider The eiders () are large seaducks in the genus ''Somateria''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The down feathers of eider ducks and some other ducks and geese are used to fill pillows and qu ...

approx. 12 km (7 miles) south of

Husum Husum (, ) is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The town was the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Storm, who coined the epithet "the grey town by the sea". It is also the home of the annual i ...

History

The town was founded in 1621 by Dutch settlers. Duke Friedrich III of Holstein-Gottorp persuaded them to invest capital and knowledge in this region in turn for freedom of their

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

and

Remonstrant The Remonstrants (or the Remonstrant Brotherhood) is a Protestant movement that split from the Dutch Reformed Church in the early 17th century. The early Remonstrants supported Jacobus Arminius, and after his death, continued to maintain his ori ...

religions (''see:

Arminianism Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was origina ...

'') and opportunities to reclaim fen and marsh land in the vicinity of the town. One of them was

Johannes Narssius Johannes Narssius (9 November 1580 – 1637) was a Dutch physician and Neo-Latin poet, initially a Remonstrant minister. Life He was born Johan van Naars(s)en in Dordrecht on 9 November 1580, and studied philosophy and theology at the University ...

. Dutch became an official language. The town was named after Duke Frederick. By 1630, many Arminians had already returned to the Netherlands. Between 1633 and 1637 Frederick III sent an embassy to Tsar

Michael I of Russia Michael I (; ) was Tsar of all Russia from 1613 after being elected by the Zemsky Sobor of 1613 until his death in 1645. He was elected by the Zemsky Sobor and was the first tsar of the House of Romanov, which succeeded the Rurikids, House o ...

and to

Shah Safi Sam Mirza () (161112 May 1642), known by his dynastic name of Shah Safi (), was the sixth shah of Safavid Iran, ruling from 1629 to 1642. Abbas the Great was succeeded by his grandson, Safi. A reclusive and passive character, Safi was unable to ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

with a view to setting up Friedrichstadt as a European trade terminus. The delegation was led by the

jurisconsult A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a legal practitione ...

Philip Crusius and the merchant Otto Bruggemann or Brugman; their secretary, the scholar

Adam Olearius Adam Olearius (born Adam Ölschläger or Oehlschlaeger; 24 September 1599 or August 16, 1603 – 22 February 1671) was a German scholar, mathematician, geographer and librarian. He became secretary to the ambassador sent by Frederick III, Duke ...

, later wrote a book documenting the mission. The aim of creating a regular trading route that did not need to pass around Africa was not achieved, the delegation proved fruitless and the town did not become as successful as anticipated. Beside the Remonstrants and Mennonites, other faith communities which settled in the town included

Unitarians Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Notable people

Sons and daughters of the city

* Johannes Thedens (1680–1748),

Governor-general of the Dutch East Indies The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies (, ) represented Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949. Occupied by Japanese forces between 1942 and 1945, followed by the ...

1741/1743. * Benjamin Calau (1724–1785), visual artist who used who used an encaustic technique. * Eduard Alberti (1827–1898), literary historian and philosopher. *

Wilhelm Mannhardt Wilhelm Mannhardt (March 26, 1831, Friedrichstadt – December 25, 1880, Danzig) was a German mythologist and folklorist. He is known for his work on Germanic mythology Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germani ...

(1831–1880), scholar and

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

* William Thordsen (1879–1932), US Navy Medal of Honor recipient * Norbert Masur (1901–1971), subcontractor of the Jewish World Congress

Connected to Friedrichstadt

* Wolfgang Marcus Gualtherus, (ca.1580-1642 in Friedrichstadt), rector in Kampen and, city secretary in Friedrichstadt. *

Jürgen Ovens Jürgen Ovens (1623 – 9 December 1678), also known as Georg, or Jurriaen Ovens whilst in the Netherlands, was a portrait painter and art-dealer from North Frisia and, according to Arnold Houbraken, a pupil of Rembrandt. He is best known for hi ...

(1623–1678), Rembrandt pupil and court painter of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf, lived here and is buried in St. Christophorus Church *

Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

(1773–1850) lived a few months in the flight from the French Revolution, worked under a blanket as a home teacher. *

Hjalmar Schacht Horace Greeley Hjalmar Schacht (); 22 January 1877 – 3 June 1970) was a German economist, banker, politician, and co-founder of the German Democratic Party. He served as the Currency Commissioner and President of the Reichsbank during the ...

(1877–1970), German politician, banker, Reichsbank president and Reichswirtschaftsminister, his grandparents lived here

Images

Friedrichstadt Holländerhäuser Sleeswijk-Holstein Duitsland markt waterpomp uit 1879.jpg, Waterpump from 1879 File:Friedrichstadt straatbeeld met Hollandse huizen Holländerhäuser Sleeswijk-Holstein Duitsland.jpg, Streetview with Dutch architecture Friedrichstadt remonstrantenkirche.jpg,

church Friedrichstadt Detail Remonstrantse Kerk Sleeswijk-Holstein Duitsland.jpg, Detail Remonstrant church Am Mittelburgwall, Friedrichstadt 2016.jpg, Streetview Friedrichstadt Mennonietenkerk te Friedrichstadt.jpg, Mennonites church Friedrichstadt Nederlandstalige grafsteen uit 1725 op het Mennonietenkerkhof.jpg, Dutch gravestone 1725 in the Mennonite cemetery File:Friedrichstadt alte synagoge.jpg, Former synagogue File:Am Mittelburgwall 32 4.jpg, House brand with the monogram of the Danish king File:Mittelburggraben3.jpg, Building used by the Unitarians

References

External links

In search of the Dutch origin of Friedrichstadt and the surrounding polderlands, including walking tourFriedrichstadt's official homepage.
Populated places established in 1621 Nordfriesland 1621 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire {{Nordfriesland-geo-stub